Understanding and Calculating Alimony in Nebraska

Alimony is financial support that one spouse pays to the other after
divorce, where one of the spouses is not completely self-supporting and
must rely on the other for financial help for some period of time.
Alimony isn’t automatic—you and your spouse can either agree to
payments, or the person seeking alimony can ask the court to make an
order.

Alimony Award Factors

When a spouse asks for an alimony award, the court it will look at a variety of factors, including:

each spouse’s financial circumstances

the duration of the marriage

each spouse’s contributions to the marriage, including the children’s care and education

whether either spouse interrupted any career or educational opportunities to support the other at home, and

the ability of the spouse seeking alimony to be gainfully employed without interfering with any interest of the children.

Alimony
is not meant to equalize the couple’s incomes, nor is it used to punish
one of the spouses; it is used to help the dependent spouse become
self-supporting through education or training, or to provide ongoing
support in the few cases in which that isn’t possible. The judge has the
power to determine the amount and duration of alimony by evaluating the
circumstances of each case and making a calculation of what the
dependent spouse needs and what the other spouse is able to pay. A
judge’s order must be reasonable and fair. This means that the order
cannot be so high that the paying spouse does not have enough left over
for reasonable living expenses.

Nebraska does not have an alimony
calculator or any mathematical formula to calculate the alimony amount;
those amounts are based on the circumstances and elements listed above.

Modification and Termination of Alimony

Either spouse
can return to court and request a change to the alimony order if there
is a substantial change in circumstances. The supported spouse can ask
the court to modify the order if the paying spouse has received a raise
or promotion. Similarly, the court may lower the alimony amount if the
paying spouse becomes unemployed or if the supported spouse gets a job
or other increase in income or resources. However, if the paying spouse
voluntarily becomes unemployed or underemployed, then the court can deny
modification.

Unless there is a separate agreement between the
spouses or by order of the court, alimony automatically ends at the
death of either spouse or if the dependent spouse remarries.

Tax Implications of Alimony

Alimony or spousal support payments are reportable as income by the supported spouse and tax deductible by the paying spouse.